Applicants have previously invented various systems and methods for establishing and managing subscriptions to items sold at vending machines. Various systems and methods enabling “subscription vending” are disclosed in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,972, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ESTABLISHING AND MANAGING VENDING MACHINE SUBSCRIPTIONS, issued Oct. 9, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,888, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ESTABLISHING AND MANAGING VENDING MACHINE SUBSCRIPTIONS, issued Jul. 11, 2000; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,346, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ESTABLISHING AND MANAGING VENDING MACHINE SUBSCRIPTIONS, issued Nov. 23, 1999. The entirety of each of these patents is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
In some embodiments of Applicant's prior inventions, a vending machine control system may identify and output an offer for a subscription to one or more products offered at a vending machine. Such subscriptions would enable customers to purchase at least two units of a product, and redeem the products at different points in time (e.g. one unit the first day, another unit the following day). Such subscription offers typically would provide customers with the ability to purchase the products at a discount relative to the total of the retail prices of all the units. For example, a customer may be offered the opportunity to purchase a “subscription” to six cans of soda, redeemable one per day, for the price of five cans. Subscription offers are a useful promotion as they enable the vending machine to increase revenue in a predictable way. Further, any per unit discount provided by the subscription promotion may be economically justified by the guaranteed increase in sales volume that results when the customer accepts the subscription offer, and pays for the subscription.